Join Me
by blueenvelopes
Summary: The Force bond opens between Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and 'Dark Rey' from The Rise of Skywalker trailer. This is my fanciful riff on the "Dark Rey" idea. This isn't a plot prediction. Just some fun.
1. Chapter 1

Kylo is brooding at the helm of a First Order star destroyer when he feels the tickle in the back of his mind that presages the opening of their connection. What he sees next is utterly unexpected. He yanks off his mended helmet for a better look. But the instant reaction escapes his lips. "Oh no."

"You're too late! You've lost! I found him!" Rey crows triumphant and hostile.

"So I see," Kylo replies softly as his eyes sweep over her new look. The Resistance girl he met in the Takodana woods is unrecognizable. She now sports a black hooded cloak and a black belted tunic that are altogether too familiar. She's holding some sort of new weapon as well. Kylo knows whose handiwork this is, having had a Dark Side makeover himself once. Does she already have a new name too? He wonders just how deep this transformation has gone. At least her eyes aren't yellow . . . yet.

He takes a deep breath and plunges forward. "Rey, don't do this. Don't go this way—"

"You had your chance!"

"I don't want this for you—"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" she barks. "I see through your lies. I know who my parents are now. They weren't junk traders—"

"Rey, you are more than your parents." She needs to let go of her obsession with her parents. It's the only way she will become what she's meant to be. Kylo knows from experience, having been born into the first family of the Force. When you add in his Rebellion hero parents and the notoriety of being obsolete royalty, it was a trifecta of overbearing expectations. But he's past all that. The only legacy that matters is the one he creates for himself. "Stop looking for parents," he complains. "You don't need them. You need a teacher. I can help—"

She rejects him. Like she always does. "I don't want your help!"

"Maybe so. But you need it." Casting concerned eyes over her bloodshot eyes and pale, drawn face, he thinks Rey looks awful. The Dark Side definitely does not become her.

Then, more rejection. "Go away!"

Exasperated, Kylo spells it out for her. "I've been you! Don't you see? I've been you! He will make you into what he made me. He will make you into what he made my grandfather. Trust me, you don't want that role." The Apprentice is the worst job in the galaxy, and you don't get to quit. The only way out is to kill or be killed. And that turns out to be far harder with Palpatine than anyone understood.

"No, you're wrong. He's no Snoke."

How many times do they have to go over this? "He is Snoke." But here goes: they rehearse it again.

"Snoke is dead! We both saw him die."

"We saw a Force projection pretend to die. Like Luke saw a Force projection die on the Second Death Star. It was him all along! Pulling the strings and manipulating my family for his own aims." Because he who controls the Chosen One controls it all. It's a generational power play.

"Liar!"

"You didn't feel him die in the Force and neither did I. Think about it, Rey. You felt Luke Skywalker die on his rock clear across the galaxy, but you felt nothing when Snoke died like a chump on this throne right in front of you? It was a trick and we both fell for it."

"Liar! You just served the wrong master. A weak master."

She seems so committed. Kylo sighs inwardly because he remembers those days. And he feels like a fool for having been such a dedicated lackey to a puppet on a throne. First Luke tried to tell him, then his loser dad. But Kylo hadn't listened because he hadn't trusted either man's motives. Too late he sees they told him the truth. So Kylo tells that same truth to Rey now. "He's just using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you."

She raises an eyebrow. "You would do the same."

"No. I wouldn't." Does she really think he wants to hurt her? Kylo holds out his hand and tries yet again, "Join me, Rey—"

"Stop." She shoots him a look that would freeze ice on hot Jakku. Damn, this woman is dismissive. "I don't want to hear it again," she tells him with a curled lip.

Gritting his teeth, Kylo continues his pitch. "You need my help. I need your help. Together we can unite the First Order and the Resistance and crush the Sith in one swift stroke—"

"I'll never join you!" She chimes in right on cue. It's more vehement rejection.

It gets under his skin. Kylo snaps back, "Fine! But don't join him. Please don't join him." For her sake, for his sake, for the sake of the galaxy, she needs to stay far, far away from Sheev Palpatine or whatever his real name is.

"I won't be your pawn. Your reign is at an end, Supreme Leader Ren." Her voice drips with acid sarcasm. It's a special tone she reserves only for him, Kylo suspects. Then, Rey declares in ringing tones, "When you're gone, we will restore peace, freedom, justice, and security to the galaxy."

"No, you won't." He calls bullshit on that pipe dream. "He'll make you me. And he'll be the same guy he's always been for thousands of generations. He goes by different names and different creeds, but his only aim is himself. His kind of evil never dies and it doesn't give a damn about peace, freedom or justice."

She's unimpressed with this warning, like all the rest. Rey merely raises an eyebrow as she accuses, "You are so desperate to hold onto power that you will say anything and do anything."

And, yeah, he won't deny that is a part of the motivation. He's grown to like this Supreme Leader gig. But there is more at stake than just his resume, and Rey seems deliberately blind to it. It's curious because she's such a savvy girl usually.

"You think I'm bad?" he goads. "Well, you haven't seen bad yet. He won't show you his true self until it's too late and you are in too deep to ever walk away. And then one day, you will realize that you have become the very thing you swore to destroy." Kylo throws up his hands. "You're better than this, Rey," he complains as he stakes the moral high ground. Where is all that determined altruism that used to typify this girl?

"You're one to talk."

"Yes. Precisely. I speak from experience. I'm not proud," he grumbles. There's no sinner like a reformed sinner. And, well, he's not exactly reformed so much as evolved. He's moving on from his past without making excuses for it. She can do the same. "Rey, I'll help you. I can teach you."

"He's teaching me."

"Only the Dark Side. I can teach you all of it. The Light, the Dark. Together, we can forge a new path—"

"No! This is where I belong. You saw it yourself on the Starkiller Base. And Luke saw it too. He refused to teach me because he said I went straight to the Dark. Kylo, he was right. The Dark Side is where I belong." And just look at her face. Rey truly believes what she says. Kylo can feel her sincerity through the bond. It tells him that his old Master has worked his mind games on Rey very effectively.

"Rey—"

"That cave on the island—remember the cave that was strong with the Dark Side?"

"Yes."

"I went there looking for answers. I didn't realize at the time, but it did give me answers. Because in the Dark Side, I saw myself. Over and over again, the answer was me . . . me on the Dark Side." She's growing excited now. "Kylo, I know who my parents are—"

"I didn't lie to you—"

"Those people on Jakku who sold me weren't my parents. They were no relation at all. I was stolen from my family."

Kylo makes a face. He instinctively knows where she's going next. Because it's the obvious ploy to lure a girl needy for acceptance who is desperate for anyone to teach her the Force.

"He is my family."

Yep. It's just as he feared. "No!" Kylo loses his temper again. "Stop looking for your future in the past! Stop looking for fathers in every man you meet!" This girl is so fucked up from her abandonment. And Palpatine knows it. He took a page out of his Vader playbook with Rey, apparently. "That's how he hooked in my grandfather. He played the father figure to earn his trust and then ultimately used it to control him. He's doing that to you now too!"

"It's not control," she protests. Then, sounding like a pathetic idiot, she claims, "It's love. He's my family. And he's all that I have."

Kylo cringes. Because this has gone way beyond promising secret training, a cool lightsaber, and a front row seat for galactic politics in the usual power pitch of the Sith. This is something far more insidious and hurtful. Palpatine is promising her love. And this foolish, desperate girl is willing to sacrifice all her principles to get it. Kylo would do anything now for a do-over in the _Supremacy_ throne room. He had offered Rey power when he should have offered her himself. He should have shut up and kissed her to seal the deal.

And now, a thought occurs to Kylo: what if Palpatine really is her relation?

He pushes that thought out of his mind and doubles down on his fearmongering. "Rey, listen to me. He's going to plunge the galaxy into a three-way civil war. And he'll win unless you help me. Without your support, the Resistance will never ally with the First Order." Even with her help it's going to be a tough sell. Destroying their fleet and no quarter at Crait haven't exactly positioned him well.

Rey scoffs. "You're gonna give them your 'Join me' pitch now too? Because that's not a winner, Kylo. Not after Hosnia."

"If he wins, there will be more Hosnias. Is that really what you want?"

"If it takes a war to get to peace and security, so be it," she pronounces with expediency that makes Kylo blink.

Kylo falls silent a long moment before he next speaks. He's resigned and he fears she is as well. "Are you sure you want this?"

"Yes."

"Because it means I have to kill you."

That makes her smirk. It's an ugly expression he's not used to seeing from Rey. "You didn't put a mark on me when we fought on Starkiller Base," she reminds him.

"I wasn't trying to kill you. And I was fighting wounded."

"You were also fighting a girl who had never held a lightsaber. I've been training."

Kylo shakes his head with regret. "I don't want to kill you. But I will do what I must." Fuck, he hopes it doesn't come to that.

Rey is unconcerned. She postures like she's staring down a rival scavenger on her old desert stomping grounds. She flicks her wrist to open and ignite a double-bladed red lightsaber. "Bring it on, Kylo," she flashes a tight smile.

He doesn't react. He doesn't want to fight this girl. How the Hell did things get so complicated between them? Kylo looks away and sighs. "You used to call me Ben," he laments. Back when they used to talk to one another, not at one another.

He eyes her in silence a moment. Then, the connection ends.


	2. Chapter 2

The bond opens, and it's like it always is between him and Rey. There is no preamble. No nice chitchat to break the ice. They get right down to business. And that's good. Kylo likes to dispense with the pleasantries. Plus, Rey is the most direct woman he's ever met. That's saying something, since his mother was Leia Organa.

Rey powers down that ridiculous looking flip-sword she's now training with and moves to place it on a table. Then she crosses her arms, juts out her hip, and cocks her head. The look she gives him tells him to go straight to Hell. Come to think of it, Rey used to give him that look even before she started to break bad. She was prickly even on the Light Side.

Who talks first? Does he talk first? Damn straight, he's talking first. But Kylo plays it cool. "So, I met your buddies. The traitor. The pilot with the weird droid fetish. Oh, and that perky grease monkey girl."

"Rose Tico?"

"Is that her name?" Kylo conveniently forgets, slyly adding offhand, "She's cute."

"Yeah?" Rey feigns being bored.

So, Kylo casually drops, "I like a girl who can use a wrench."

"I bet she didn't like you," Rey observes acidly.

Kylo shrugs. "She spit on me. Then, she tried to jump me. But she's two feet tall. It was like getting kicked by a kitten." Rey keeps posturing like she's not listening, but Kylo knows full well that she's hanging on every word. All that nonchalance annoys him, so he baits her further. "Then your old flame the traitor talked her down."

"He has a name. His name is Finn."

"I remember him as FN-2187."

"His name is Finn."

"Well, he's clearly moved on. That traitor seemed pretty chummy with Rose. It sure looked like they were a thing," Kylo observes, just to see Rey's reaction.

"They're friends."

"Like we're friends?" he challenges softly. Kylo catches her eye and holds her gaze.

Rey looks away. "You're not my friend. You never were."

He smirks. "We can agree on that at least."

Rey understands his meaning perfectly, he sees. She shifts her stance and it betrays her discomfort. And is it his imagination, or do her cheeks redden? Kylo smothers a smile. Because he remembers a lonely girl who held out her hand first in the Force. A day later she drop-shipped herself to him in the _Falcon_'s escape pod. That wasn't motivated solely by friendship. Neither was his offer in the throne room. And they both know it.

But back to the topic at hand—alliances. "Your buddies don't like me."

Rey raises an eyebrow. "That surprises you?"

"Yes. Because they don't have to like me to ally with me."

"No, but they need to trust you," Rey points out. As usual, she gets right to the crux of the analysis. This girl might have zero schooling, but she's plenty smart. "You're the bad guy," she accuses.

"I was never the bad guy."

Rey snorts. It's an ugly sound. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously. The First Order is about more than just war." They have a manifesto and an ancillary statement of positions that takes up lots of data on the holonet. There is a purpose to it all.

"Seriously?" This time, Rey sounds especially shrill.

And really, Kylo thinks, her moral righteousness plays badly given the Master she's serving now. He bristles. "We are a reform movement that failed to achieve its aims through political means. So, we began aggressive negotiations . . . with the Starkiller Base."

"So, basically, you're the bad guy," Rey concludes again.

Kylo huffs, "Not entirely. We had legitimate grievances against the New Republic."

"Maybe, maybe not," she shrugs. "But if what you say is true and Snoke is Darth Sidious, then how is the First Order any different from the Sith?"

"Well, for starters, I'm in charge."

"Riiiight," Rey lays on the sarcasm. "Now, we get to your real motivation: holding onto power."

"You might think I'm the bad guy," Kylo snaps back, "but you're wrong. I'm the less bad guy."

"Was that your pitch to the Resistance? That you're the lesser of two evils? Because that is a loser argument."

No, it's not. It's actually a very persuasive argument when you're being compared to Sheev Palpatine as the worst-case scenario. Kylo looks Rey in the eye. "I told them the same thing I'm going to tell you now: stick to the devil you know."

"They shot you down, didn't they?" She gives him a smug look.

"They're all worried about you." In fact, the only reason the Resistance had tepidly agreed to meet with him was to learn more about Rey's situation. Her friends are right to be concerned. Kylo hadn't sugarcoated things when asked about her.

"Yeah, they told you no," she gloats.

"They're thinking about it." Kylo is unwilling to concede defeat just yet on his Rebel Alliance 2.0 idea. A sigh of frustration now escapes him. "The problem is that they're the martyr types. So pure in their naïve idealism that they would rather die than compromise."

"Or," Rey offers up an alternative explanation, "they know you're going to lose anyway, so they might as well stay true to their principles than compromise and gain nothing."

Kylo shakes his head. "Dead is dead, Rey. Whether you die a martyr or die a realist, you're dead. It's all the same in the end. But they might have a chance to affect the change they want with me in charge. At the very least, they would be alive to push for it."

"Supreme Leader Ren hasn't exactly covered himself in democratic glory," she heckles. Rey flashes him a tight smile that never reaches her eyes. "Who knows? Maybe they will prefer my father to you."

"He's not your father," Kylo bites back.

"He is. He created me in the Force like he created your grandfather." Rey looks cheeky now as she claims, "I guess that makes me a Skywalker too." She flippantly asks, "Does that make us some sort of cousins?"

Hardly. Kylo grouses, "That doesn't make him your father. It's like he fucking commissioned you from the Force." Kylo ordered a new ship last week to replace his favorite TIE that Rey destroyed with her acrobatic saber moves. That doesn't make him the father of that new ship. More like the owner.

"My father says you Skywalkers tend to self-destruct."

Kylo frowns. She may have a point there. But whatever. "He's not your father."

"He is my father."

"Rey, don't be a fool." Kylo tries again. "You know he is Snoke. Search your feelings. Open your eyes. The truth is right in front of you."

"Snoke is dead."

"If Snoke is dead, then why is this bond he created still active?"

"I don't know. Maybe because only the initial creation required his input," she posits.

"No. It's because he's around. And he's probably listening in right now." Kylo smirks and pretends to look around. "Are you getting this, Pappa Palpatine?"

"You're just jealous that I have a Sith daddy and you don't," Rey chuckles.

"I killed my father, remember? Killing your kin is a Dark Side rite of passage. You'll need to do it too, Darth Rey. So, how about we join forces and I'll help you with that patricide? I'll even let you use that janky new saber."

As expected, she doesn't go for it. "At least my sword doesn't have wires sticking out of the handle," Rey jeers. "When I grabbed that thing in Snoke's throne room, I was worried it wouldn't turn on."

Kylo is touchy about his weapon, cracked crystal and all. His eyes narrow. "It does the job. And," he reminds her of the punchline of that throne room confrontation, "if I recall correctly, your father ordered me to execute you with it."

"He's not Snoke. Why would he even pretend to die that day, if he were Snoke?"

Isn't it obvious? "Don't you see? He's doing exactly what he did two generations before us. He's manipulating a war that he's on both sides of. That's his ruse to step in and save the day like he did when the Separatists fought the Old Republic. People were so tired of war and disenchanted with their government that they were happy to proclaim him Emperor." People forget that part. Palpatine didn't seize power. It was handed to him. The Sith mastermind became a hero to many when he accepted. He's probably the first ever Sith Emperor to get democratically elected, Kylo thinks sourly.

"Heads, I win. Tails, you lose. Yes, I've got that part," Rey complains, sounding miffed at being mansplained the Clone Wars. "I'm asking a different question. The First Order already controls all the major systems. Why would my father need to swoop in as Palpatine again to rule the galaxy? If he's Snoke, then he can rule it as Snoke. It's not like the Empire is that fundamentally different from the First Order."

"It is with me in charge," Kylo argues.

"Answer the question. Walk me through your logic," she challenges. "I mean, why would he even bother posturing as Snoke in the first place? Why wouldn't he just reveal who he is all along? He could have made this a restoration of the Empire, not a revolution of the New Republic."

Yeah, that issue has occurred to Kylo. He shrugs it off. "Palpatine's brand is tarnished."

"Oh, and yours isn't? Cut the crap and give me a real answer, Kylo."

"Alright, then let me ask you a question," he responds, seeking to sow doubts. "How do you know he's even Sheev Palpatine? If he could project as Snoke for years, then he can project as the old Emperor too. That guy could be some ancient Dark Sider who slips into different identities as it suits him. In and out of history, he's who he wants to be."

"That's barely believable," Rey dismisses his theory. "But even if it were true, why would he want to do that?"

"Power. Prestige. Control. Ego." Kylo could go on. But that's basically how this Dark Side thing works—it's all about you. And actually, it's sort of comforting that Rey doesn't know that yet. Maybe she's not as Dark as she seems. In fact, she seems more like a petulant, clingy child than anything in her Sith-girl guise.

"Look a true Sith deals in deceptions. What they say, how they act, who they appear to be—it's never the whole story. Whether they wear an actual mask or they Force project an alter ego or they conceal their true self behind friendly public personas, it's all a lie."

Rey raises a cool eyebrow. "And how are you any different?"

It's a home question. Kylo hesitates.

She presses. "Because I see you wearing a mask—a broken one to match your broken sword," she trolls him, "and I see a fictitious name to hide your past and your politically inconvenient relatives. You're pretty much exactly what you just described, Darth Solo."

"No," he disavows. "The difference is in what we hide."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Does he have to spell it out for her? "I hide how conflicted I am." Kylo meets her eyes steadily. "And you know it."

Rey saw it all along. And once not too long ago, she hoped that she could use that conflict to redeem him. She stood in Snoke's throne room and warned his old Master not to underestimate him. It was gloriously foolish—even crusty old Luke Skywalker warned her against it-but Kylo loved her for it. Because it's good to have someone believe in you. Now, he's trying to repay the favor . . . only Rey won't let him.

Any similarities between himself and Palpatine are superficial, Kylo believes. He deeply resents the comparison to the man who effectively killed his grandfather. So, he argues further. "Darth Sidious isn't hiding his call to the Light. He's not hiding his lack of conviction. You know that, Rey."

She looks away.

"This is what he wants," Kylo fumes, "for us to be at odds with one another. You know the drill, right? He's going to let us fight it out to determine who's dominant. The winner gets the role of the Apprentice. And the loser dies." And, actually, there will be no winners in the battle. They will both lose. That's why this power play is so classically Sith.

Rey refuses to see it, though. She lifts her chin and claims special status. "He won't kill me. I'm his daughter."

Kylo shoots her a pained look. This is the same vain hope that kept her on Jakku for years waiting for her parents to come back. Truly, this girl's capacity for self-deception cannot be overstated. But when it comes to finding any long-lost family member, she loses all rationality.

So Kylo is blunt. "You're only his daughter until the moment that I prove myself stronger. Kill or be killed is how this Sith gig works, Rey." It's how Darth Vader got the Apprentice job—he killed Darth Tyrannus and created the job opening. No doubt, Snoke/Palpatine/whoever he is has something similar planned for him and Rey. "Look, if you don't want to kill me, then it's time to jump ship. My offer from the _Supremacy_ stills stands." Kylo even holds out his hand. "Join me," he offers.

She just stands there in silence.

So, to sweeten the deal, Kylo enlists his soon-to-be allies to the cause. "Come on, Rey." He gestures again with his outstretched hand. "Let me help you get out of this mess. If you won't do it for me, then do it for your friends in the Resistance. They care about you, too."

She keeps staring. Is she considering? Is she about to tell him off? Is she about to laugh in his face? Kylo never finds out. The bond closes.


	3. Chapter 3

The next time the bond opens, Kylo is alone in his office at work. Ruling the galaxy is a lot of work. But he will always make time for Rey. This is just the break he needs. Kylo sits back in his chair and suppresses a smile as his arch-enemy girlfriend appears.

"Did you like my speech? I know you watched it." The whole galaxy tuned in to see Kylo Ren without his mask. It was just the cheesy hook he needed to make sure that everyone was watching when the Supreme Leader of the First Order announced his jaw-dropping alliance with the Resistance and what remains of the New Republic.

Rey nods slowly. And without enthusiasm. "My Father says you're the next Leia Organa. He's calling you princess now."

"Well, I am pretty," Kylo smirks. And he's pretty happy to have gotten under Darth Sidious' skin, too.

Kylo fishes for more compliments now. "What do you think of my new uniform?" He gestures to his new dark—but not too dark—grey robes styled reminiscent of the Jedi.

Rey sniffs, "I hadn't noticed."

"Liar." Kylo's not a vain guy but even he can tell he looks majestic as fuck in his new Supreme Leader threads. They make him walk taller and at a more stately pace. Like the boss of the universe that he is. "You're not the only one who can change your look," he informs her.

Rey shoots him a cold glare. "I miss the mask. You're all ears and nose, Kylo."

Honestly, he sort of misses the mask too. Making speeches shoulder to shoulder with Resistance terrorists with his face bare for all the galaxy to see is way out of Kylo's comfort zone. The women in his family are the politicians, not the men. But he sucked up his insecurities and plunged ahead anyway. So with that same bravado, Kylo drawls to Rey, "You know what they say. Big nose, big—"

"Shut up, Kylo."

"Lightsaber," he finishes with a grin. "I'm a changed man," he chuckles. "That's what all the polling says."

"Since when do you care about polling?"

"I don't. But it's nice to be approved of. I'm trending on the holonet," he brags. Not that he cares. "Who'd have guessed that new optics would be so important?" Maybe this politics thing isn't so hard after all.

"Clothes don't make the man. And they don't change him either." Rey is dismissive. "I'm not fooled. The galaxy isn't fooled. You will soon be exposed for the slippery opportunist you are."

Kylo shrugs. There are plenty of people who feel the same way as Rey does. But whatever. He will prove them wrong in time. "I can be pragmatic in my loyalties. I'm flexible, and that's a good thing," he contends. "The galaxy could use a little more compromise. That's why the New Republic failed-because no one would compromise. Democracy requires compromise or nothing gets done."

Rey crosses her arms and lifts her chin. "Look at you lecturing me on democracy as you consolidate power with fearmongering."

"You can come school me on governing any time you wish. Come back and tell me what I'm doing wrong," he invites affably. "I wanted us to do this together, remember?"

"Not a chance."

He didn't think so. But he's undeterred. Kylo cross-examines. "What are you afraid of?"

"Not you." Rey cuts off his next pitch preemptively. "I stand with my father. With my family. The galaxy was his until your grandfather turned traitor and your mother and uncle stole it to found the New Republic. You Skywalkers have made a mess of things."

Well, he can't argue with that. So, Kylo moves on. "What do you think of my new Senate?" He's curious.

She rolls her eyes. Darth Rey has this Dark Side bitch posturing down cold. "I'll believe it when I see it," she sniffs.

"With a war looming, we don't have time for elections," he concedes. "I'm going to appoint the first batch of Senators to two-year terms so we can get the legislature up and running. Then it will be free and fair elections after that."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Kylo nods. "Then keep watching. You're going to like what you see."

"So how is this going to work exactly? What will the Senate decide?" Rey wants to know.

"Probably nothing. Which is fine by me," Kylo admits. "You get that many politicians in a room and nothing gets decided. Too many speeches. Too many egos." Kylo grew up with a politician mother. He knows how a Senate works.

"So this is an empty gesture? Just a nod to the democratic process?"

He shrugs. "I'll probably get them to rubberstamp a few things now and then."

"And if they can't compromise like the New Republic Senate?"

"Then I will make them compromise."

"How?"

Does he have to spell this out? "I'm Kylo Ren. The uniform is a different color, but not the sword," he quips. "Plus, I don't need to wait for a Senate to make decisions. I can act unilaterally. So, if they don't act, they will lose their ability to do so."

"So you're Sith-lite? Is that it?" Rey, like the rest of the galaxy, is befuddled by this new system he's proposing. And, admittedly, there are a lot of details work out. "It doesn't seem very different from the early days of the Empire with a puppet Senate and a dictator."

"Wrong. This is not Sith-lite. I am not Sith," he bristles. "I prefer to think of myself as a more effective Jedi." And did he just say that with a straight face? He did.

Rey scoffs. "Luke is cursing you now in the Force."

Oh, totally. But Kylo doesn't care. His loser uncle with his dogmatic old school views of Light and Dark can rot in the Force. Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was a hypocrite. Quick to condemn Darkness in others while conveniently ignoring his own Dark tendencies. Kylo's glad Luke committed Force suicide on his rock. He needed to go so that the galaxy could move on. Same with Palpatine. He needs to go as well.

Kylo now recasts his actions in a different perspective. "My grandfather the frustrated Jedi and my grandmother the frustrated Old Republic Senator would love what I'm doing. They saw democracy fail the first time. They saw the problems with the old Jedi Order. They would understand the need for change." Direct democracy works fine on a system level. But the galaxy as a whole needs executive power.

Rey has nothing to say to this. She just heaps on cynicism. "Yeah, well I bet your mother is spitting mad you've managed to talk the Resistance into this scheme. So how long until you declare yourself Emperor?"

"You have this all wrong. I'm the not-Palpatine, not-Sith choice. See? New Jedi-ish clothes, no Sith mask, different title reminiscent of the Supreme Chancellor office. I'm the best of the Republic and the Empire combined," he declares. "I represent change without absolutes. I am the future. Sidious is the past."

"Actually, it sounds like you stand for nothing but yourself," Rey observes, looking down her nose at him.

"No. I stand for the best parts of it all." And that's appropriate since his family has been on every side and held every creed. Kylo is just adopting it all now, except he's eschewing the bright line rules.

"What's next? Are you going to publicly come out as a Skywalker?"

"I might. I don't know." Actually, he's planning on it. Kylo tried for many years to get out from under his crushing, conflict-ridden family legacy. But now, he's embracing it for his own uses. He has to. Because there is no escaping being a Skywalker. It turns out Kylo inherited his grandfather's Force and—surprise!—his arch nemesis Sith Master Darth Sidious too. So Kylo plans on publicly embracing the rest of his clan's exploits. Soon, he'll be revealing to everyone that he's Leia Organa's son and Luke Skywalker's nephew. That ought to make him more palatable to his wary New Republic citizens.

But just to engage her some, Kylo solicits, "What do you think?"

"No one would believe it."

"Oh, I'd tell the whole story. Luke trying to kill me . . . me defending myself and accidentally killing my classmates . . . fleeing to Snoke for help with my Darkness. Kike everyone else in the galaxy I was duped. But now, I know the truth. I've broken with my old Master. I'm my own man now." Kylo muses aloud now, "I'll put it all out there to show my commitment to transparency."

"Transparency? That's a lie. I heard you blame the Starkiller on my father," she hisses.

"That's where the blame belongs, since he's Snoke," Kylo retorts. "And don't forget that Darth Sidious is the guy who built not one, but two Death Stars," he reminds her. "So, let's give credit where credit is due." Kylo cocks his head and makes an impromptu offer. "I tell you what—if you come back, I'll pledge to forgo all super weapons once the war is over."

She's unimpressed. "You're going to lose, Kylo. You know that, right?"

He refuses to take the bait to engage in a war of words. Instead, he ignores the comment. "So . . . I need a lot of Senators. What do you say? Senator Rey has a nice ring to it."

"Not as good as Apprentice Rey," she smirks.

"You can be my Apprentice any day, babe," he smirks back.

She doubles down. "I could teach you a few things, Kylo."

"Come home and school me," he leers. "I'm waiting."

The exchange now devolves into a mutual glaring contest. She seethes. He gives her his best patronizing look.

Rey blinks first and moves on. "Why would I want to be your Senator when I can rule the galaxy with my father?"

"You're not going to rule the galaxy. He's going to rule the galaxy and you're going to be his henchman. I offered you better than that. That offer is still open."

"I won't betray my family."

"Why not? He betrayed you."

"That was Snoke."

"Who was your daddy in the Force," Kylo sighs. Why is this woman so self-delusional? "You want family? Come be my family. Come reunite with your friends. We can give you all the belonging you seek. Plus, as a bonus, we don't demand your soul in return."

"We?" she jeers. "What-are you and Finn bros now? Are you besties with Poe?"

"No. But things are less tense." Even if they still have a long way to go. "I went flying with the pilot. He's pretty good. Does he bring that droid with him everywhere?"

"Yes. BB8 is like his pet."

"I hate people who bring their pets everywhere with them," Kylo grumbles.

She gives a mocking laugh. "It was painfully awkward at that shotgun wedding of a press conference. You just stood there looking very you. Everyone else stood about two feet away."

Kylo frowns. That's not how he remembers it. He complains, "The traitor likes the limelight. He hogged the microphone."

"Rose kept giving you dirty looks."

"Well, since you skipped the occasion," Kylo sighs, "someone had to do it." He tries again. "Come back, Rey. I miss you. No one has tried to redeem me lately." Mostly because no one cares . . . but her. But he bungled things badly in Snoke's throne room. Kylo left hurt and vowing to destroy her. She fled to help the Resistance and promptly went into a tailspin after his mother died. That somehow ended up with Rey siding with Darth Sidious. The leftover Sith ought to be her enemy, were he not claiming to be her kin. Damn that wily Dark bastard. Sidious read Rey perfectly.

She looks uncomfortable for the briefest moment. Then she recovers her hostile attitude. "I thought you were trying to save my soul now."

"Is it a lost cause?"

"Yes," she says without hesitation. She keeps pushing him away, but Kylo keeps pursuing her. Because whatever the murky circumstances of Rey's past, she grew up believing herself abandoned. So Kylo digs in and holds on when another guy would walk away. She needs this constancy, he instinctively knows.

"What's your next move? Are you going to issue a joint apology? The Resistance says sorry about the Starkiller and you say 'oops, my bad' for Hosnia?"

Absolutely not. "I'm not apologizing for anything." Let the trolls of the holonet call-out culture be damned. Kylo refuses to enable the endless privileging of victimhood. War is war. It makes bad things happen. Cope with it. Plus, people can and do change and evolve, regardless of whether some people refuse to see it. Kylo intends to let his actions, not his words, reveal his intentions. With Supreme Leader Ren, you're gonna have to take the good with the bad.

Besides, he's not the handwringing, guilt-ridden type like his uncle. Kylo is moving forward. The galaxy can just suck it up and move on too. Because saying 'sorry' isn't exactly what Kylo would say, anyway. It's more like 'sorry that circumstances made it necessary at the time for me to make those decisions.' He suspects that sort of apology might do more harm than good. And then, what's the point in apologizing if it doesn't get you what you want? So, no. He's not apologizing.

"I own my past. It's how I got to where I am now. I'm glad it happened. I'm not apologizing for anything," he repeats.

"So, you're not really Light?"

"No. Not exclusively." Did she think he was heading on some trite redemption arc? Not a chance. This is what his uncle and the rest of the galaxy got wrong about Darth Vader's sacrifice on the Death Star. Vader didn't repent of Darkness. He was trying to save his son. Because there was still good in Darth Vader. There was always good in Darth Vader. Just like there has always been good in Kylo Ren. And that's the point— Force users are like people everywhere. They are both good and bad. Like the Force is both Dark and Light. You gain nothing by denying one half of your nature, Kylo has decided. And you are a fool to restrict yourself to only one half of the Force. At this point, Kylo has given up trying to be pure in his methods or his Force. Now, he simply plans to do what it takes to save the galaxy.

"Look, think of it like this," Kylo posits. "You're getting Darker, so I'm getting Lighter. We can balance each other. How about we meet someplace in the middle? Meet me in the grey?" he offers cheekily. It's a radical idea that both a Jedi and a Sith would reject, and only an iconoclast like Kylo Ren would suggest.

Darth Rey shoots him down automatically. "No, thanks."

"Then meet me on Jakku. Or meet me at Vader's castle. Let's talk in person."

"Why would I take that risk?"

"I'd be taking a risk too," he points out.

"We talk just fine like this."

Yes, where Sith daddy can no doubt listen in. "What are you afraid of?" Kylo asks softly.

"I'm needed here."

"For what?"

"For training."

"Is he hurting you?" Kylo demands. He remembers well Dark Side training. It's tough.

She brushes him off. "I can take it."

That's a yes, he knows. Frustrated, Kylo now starts pumping her for intel. "So what does he do all day? Hang out on his throne brooding?"

"He's planning his war. Working through scenarios. Teaching me."

"How'd he get the fleet? We know about the fleet. Did he find the Star Forge or something?"

"The what?"

"I guess not, then. Well, tell Daddy that the moment one of those ships jumps beyond the Rim boundary, I will consider it to be an invasion. We will respond to aggression with total war."

"That's what he wants."

She's right. But Kylo can't see any way around it. He's not about to lay down arms and hand over the galaxy. Kylo Ren is going to finish what his grandfather started, or die trying. He's killing Sheev Palpatine and fixing the mess he and the Skywalkers have made of the galaxy. And then, Kylo plans to leave the past behind. To start fresh and be better than those who came before.

He was hoping Rey would be at his side for that task. But now, she's an impediment. It's discouraging.

Look at her now. She's aged twenty years and she's thinner than he's ever seen her. Rey was always lean and strong, but now she appears almost frail. She looks diminished. That's too much Dark Side decaying her body while it corrupts her mind with obsessions, aggression, and paranoia. Seeing her now, Kylo wonders if her eyes will be yellow the next time the bond opens.

"Rey—"

"Look, I'm sorry!" she blurts out. "I'm sorry, Kylo, but this is how things are. I stand with my family. I can trust my father."

The implication is clear: she can't trust him.

Rey sounds shrill. Defensive. It's the first sign that she's having second thoughts. So, he presses forward and softens his approach. Kylo walks forward and raises both palms to her. This time, he doesn't have to remove any gloves. He ditched the gloves along with the mask.

"If you won't come home, then touch hands with me. Please," he coaxes. "Show us the future." Maybe it will help to light her way home to the Resistance. And maybe it will help him better understand how to sway her. Because Palpatine seems to have Rey completely turned.

She takes a step back in retreat. "No." Then, she repeats again with more vehemence. "No!"

"Don't be afraid."

When they touched hands before in the bond, Kylo saw Rey's future in the Force. He saw her at his side fighting Snoke's guards. Kylo wrongly believed that meant she would stand with him. He knows now that Rey saw a version of the same thing he saw. But she took it to mean that Kylo had broken with the First Order because he was fighting his Master's guards. This is the nature of premonitions in the Force: they confuse and mislead. The meaning depends on your perspective. And yet, given all that has transpired between them and the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, Kylo wants another peek.

"Don't be afraid," he urges.

"No! I know my future. It's not with you. It's with my father."

"It doesn't have to be—"

"It does!"

Kylo winces at this latest rejection. The bond shuts off.


	4. Chapter 4

The next time the bond opens, it's the start of his work day and Kylo has a roomful of military men and women assembled around a conference table. But, as usual, when Rey appears, he drops everything.

She looks nervous. Uncertain. "Ben." She calls him Ben.

"What's wrong?" He instinctively feels her trepidation. She's upset, he can sense it. Worried. Afraid.

Rey casts a furtive look over her shoulder as if she fears being caught. "Ben," she whispers again as she raises her bare palms to him. "Let's do it. Let's see the future. Give me hope," she whispers.

What has brought about this change of heart? Kylo pauses. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Please. Quickly!" she hisses.

Her urgency pricks his sense of danger. "Are you in trouble?"

"No! Yes!" she contradictions herself. "Look, just do it."

"Alright." Kylo turns to the room of quizzical onlookers who are watching him talk to someone they can't see. "This is important." Then he raises his palms and walks forward to match them with Rey's.

The instant that skin touches skin, the Force illuminates his mind. Visions always feel like a thunderclap to the consciousness followed by a lightning strike of images. But before he can begin to process what he sees, his equilibrium suddenly tilts as Rey immediately closes her fingers around his.

Somehow, inexplicably, the small gesture pulls Kylo clear across the galaxy into her reality. Because as he blinks, he realizes that he and Rey are holding hands in person now. This connection is literal and corporal, not just metaphysical. He's no longer standing in a brightly lit conference room full of staff. He's in a dimly lit empty chamber with the typical old school Imperial design stylings that the First Order loves. And . . . they are not alone.

Kylo senses an unfamiliar Dark presence in the Force.

Rey jumps back now as she disentangles her fingers. It's like she can't wait to be rid of him. All signs of distress are gone. Rey looks relieved more than anything.

The hair on the back of his neck starts to stand on end. Then, he hears a wheezy, old man's cackle that conveys much satisfaction.

Kylo whirls. It's as he feared. He's standing in Darth Sidious' throne room.

Oh, fuck. This is not good.

His host does not even deign to face Kylo. He sits in a high chair turned away as he looks out a star-filled giant viewing window.

Kylo flashes Rey a hard look of reproach as she quickly backs away. Darth Rey just betrayed him to her Master, Kylo realizes. But maybe she thinks this is fair play since Kylo once brought her to Snoke on the _Supremacy_.

He sighs. This confrontation was going to occur eventually. Kylo would have preferred a time and place of his own choosing. And he would prefer not to have Rey in attendance. But this battle feels unavoidable now.

Resigned, Kylo slowly walks past Rey to approach the dais. Gulping back misgivings, he controls his fear and centers his mind. Telling himself that if Luke Skywalker could do this, so can he. It's time to rid the galaxy, his family, and Rey of this phantom menace. Today, he hopes, the past will finally die.

"Welcome young Skywalker," the concealed figure intones solemnly. "I have been expecting you. I have foreseen this."

The smug words grate, as intended. Kylo is more than ready to turn the page on everything Darth Sidious represents. Especially the tired old trope of Jedi-versus-Sith showdowns in dimly lit throne rooms. Well, here goes. Kylo summons his nasty, petty self. He can trash talk as well as any Dark Sider. He excels at pissing people off.

For his opening salvo, Kylo sniffs, "Your powers are weak, old man."

Sidious ignores the comment. "That's a neat trick she did, isn't it? I learned it long ago when I was Force bonded with another. Yes," the low voice from the high throne purrs, "she lured you here at my bidding. She is my creature now. Your scavenger is my long-lost princess."

Kylo's eyes again find Rey standing off to the side. He's been in her position. He knows how what it means to be the Apprentice. Kylo feels more pity than anger at her, actually. And if all goes well in the coming fight, Kylo will save Rey from herself. So, he boldly tells the seated figure, "In time, she will realize what I know: that there is no glory or honor to be gained by serving you."

That prompts his host to swivel his chair to reveal himself.

And wait-that's not Sheev Palpatine. Or is it?

The man is surprisingly young, maybe forty, with a slightly craggy but handsome face and an enviable square jaw. His yellow eyes are deep set, but his cheekbones are high. It gives him a bookish cast. Like he's a professor type. His skin is pale, his hair is brown. He's wearing black, naturally, but it's casual attire. Instead of the flowing Sith robes and hood Kylo expects, this man wears a black belted tunic and pants tucked into boots. It's less evil Sith mastermind and more young Dark prince at the office on casual Friday. By comparison, Kylo feels overdressed for this occasion.

When Kylo has looked his fill, the man speaks. "You have served your purpose. And now, my Apprentice, your journey nears its end."

Apprentice. Kylo's eyes dart to Rey. Did she catch that confirmation? Kylo shoots her an 'I told you so' look. But Rey doesn't so much as blink. There is no reaction of surprise or chagrin. Because she knew all along, Kylo ruefully surmises.

Ouch. That hurts. He swallows hard.

The man stands from his throne and says breezily, "She isn't the damsel in distress that you think she is. She brought you here to kill you."

As his enemy now descends the steps, his appearance changes in rapid succession. Blink, and you will miss one. For in the course of maybe five seconds, the figure of his nemesis morphs through ten or more forms. Kylo recognizes several, but not all of the disguises. That's Sheev Palpatine in his distinguished Republic Senator posture. There's ugly Snoke in his effete golden bathrobe. Kylo also recognizes the giant grey Muun species but not the face of the man wearing Banking Clan attire. And look, that human version wears Old Republic Jedi Master robes. When the flashing catalog of aliases ends, Kylo finds himself looking at the same youngish man who was sitting on the throne.

Who is this guy?

"We three have done this before on the _Supremacy_ when you were the bait, Apprentice. Now, the tables are turned and she is the one to lure you to me." His foe relishes the irony as he keeps layering on the history that precedes this aggrieved contest. "A generation before that, your uncle showed up to answer his father's beckon. Before that, your grandfather was enticed to a duel with my then Apprentice to save the Republic Chancellor." Yes, this guy is entirely too smug as he recalls his manipulations of generations of the Skywalker clan. His nonchalance gets under Kylo's skin.

"I've done this many times. The story is always the same. The prey always shows up with heroic intentions. Then, they either die or submit. Which will it be, Kylo Ren?"

The man now comes to a halt several paces from him. He's acting like that is a serious question.

"I told you he would betray you," Kylo barks sharply at silent Rey. "This is what he wants. For us to fight." Kylo looks her in the eye. "Don't give him what he wants." Time to throw down your lightsaber and refuse to fight, taking a page out of Luke Skywalker's playbook.

The man just shakes his head in gentle reproof as though he were addressing a child. "It is useless to resist, Kylo Ren. It is inevitable. I am inevitable."

Again, Kylo addresses Rey. "Don't fall for this crap. Your destiny is shaped as much by your choices as it is by the Force."

"That's true . . . to a point," the man concedes, as though this were a purely theoretical matter and not a life-and-death confrontation.

Irritated Kylo demands. "Who are you?"

The answer he receives is infuriatingly vague. "Oh, I am many men. I have lived many lives, professed many creeds, fought many wars, and ruled many lands. I am the villain with a thousand faces," the man explains with a cheeky grin, "or the hero with a thousand faces, if you prefer. Like most things, it all depends on your point of view."

"Who the fuck are you?" The tenseness of the moment makes Kylo impatient.

His foe knows it, too. His response is coy. "Guess."

"Bane." Kylo blurts out the first name the comes to mind.

"Don't insult me," the man scoffs. "Bane ruined the Sith. He took a proud, resilient culture and reduced it to two men skulking about in hoods plotting revolution."

Okay, then, "Malgus."

"He was fat."

"Revan?"

"Half right. I was Revan. But that's not who I really am."

"Revan was a Jedi," Kylo breathes out.

"Yes," the man concedes. "I thought it might be fun to corrupt the Jedi Order from within. As Revan, I started a Jedi civil war and nearly discredited the Order for good. It was amusing. I was the first and only Jedi to use a super weapon. That was fun. But you are wrong. Guess again."

Kylo's mind is racing. He tries to remember what little he knows of the Old Sith Empire. It's not exactly the core curriculum they taught at his uncle's Jedi camp or one of the fancy New Republic schools his mother sent him to in his youth. "Nihilus?" Kylo guesses.

"Who?"

"Well, you're too pretty to be Maul," Kylo decides.

"So true," the man chuckles. "Evil always has a certain glamour. It's the finger wagging, moral-minded ones who are dowdy and old. Evil tempts while others forbid. It's why things are so much more fun on the Dark Side."

Hardly. The Dark Side has its benefits and uses, Kylo knows firsthand. But it's far from fun. Moreover, Dark power just doesn't satisfy like the Light. You always want more with the Shadow Force. It's like a hunger you cannot sate or a thirst you cannot quench. That's why too much Darkness brings on obsession. It fuels a certain desperation, as Kylo knows all too well.

"I give up," Kylo announces. He's through playing guessing games. "Are you the devil?"

His foe grunts. "Quaint. There is no heaven, there is no Hell. There is only the Force, as you well know, Apprentice." The man now beckons Rey over, and she dutifully comes to her Master's side. He offers her his arm in a courtly gesture as he proclaims, "My name is Dark Lord Vitiate. I am the ancient evil of what the Republic still inexplicably calls the Unknown Regions."

Kylo draws a blank. He shakes his head. "Doesn't ring a bell. Never heard of you."

"Perhaps you know me as the Sith Emperor. The original Sith Emperor."

Well, fuck. That does ring a bell. And not in a good way. But Kylo refuses to be intimidated. "So, what's your story? Your real story," he asks plainly.

This is the point when the bad guy reveals his evil plan and explains his animus to justify his actions. This is the moment for the tragic backstory that reveals why he has become what he is. It's the chance to make himself sympathetic and relatable as he proclaims his grandiose manifesto.

But Kylo's foe declines to disclose his intentions. He just announces, "I am Darkness made manifest. I am the Dark Side incarnate. I endure, like the Force endures. You can't stop me. You can only join me or die."

And damn, if that quiet speech doesn't feel completely true in the Force. Still, Kylo plays his role. "I'll never join you!" he rasps.

He's played the fool before. He won't do it again. Plus, this Jedi-versus-Sith crap needs to end, Kylo scowls. So too the perpetual cycle of galactic civil war it creates. First a Republic, then an Empire. Then a New Republic followed by the Neo-Imperialist First Order. And now, a restoration of yet another Empire. These same old conflicts have the same old resolutions that trigger the cycle to renew itself yet another generation. Well, it's time to move past all that. Kylo has watched enough history repeat itself in his lifetime to know that progress will never occur unless the old ideologies die. And if this guy really is the mastermind behind so much suffering, then Kylo will start by killing him.

"You're the one who's going to die!" he snarls.

"Am I?" The mystery Sith is unconcerned. "By all means try, Apprentice."

That's just the invitation Kylo wants to hear. His sword leaps into his hand and ignites. He prepares to swing. His opponent just stands there. He has no weapon. He doesn't raise his hands to shoot Force lightning. He puts up no defense. And that is disarming. It makes Kylo hesitate.

"Go ahead," his foe encourages, "strike me down."

Kylo swings.

His sword passes right through the man, just like with Luke's projection on Crait.

Kylo seethes. "You're another trick! Another projection!" he accuses.

"Oh, no. I assure you that I am very real. But you cannot kill me. Care to try again?" the man invites almost cordially.

"Yes." Grim Kylo hacks away, but to no avail. Angered, he abandons the sword to shoot blue Force lightning at his passive victim. But yet again, it has no effect. The sparks run down to the ground to dissipate harmlessly. Finally, Kylo launches himself at the man to choke the life out of him. "Die!" he howls. Kylo's fingers clench hard as he leverages all his weight to crush the man's throat with his bare hands and a powerful assist from the Force. But try as he might, Kylo's unresisting opponent still lives. Amazingly enough, he appears completely unscathed. It is as infuriating as it is demoralizing.

"What is this strange power?" frustrated Kylo demands as he stands down.

"Immortality."

"How?"

His enemy answers simply. "I am too full of Force to die. Life creates the Force and the Force creates life. Long ago, I once stole so much Force from others that I made myself immortal quite by accident."

Kylo isn't following. "You stole someone's Force?"

"Yes. I stole a whole planet's Force around five thousand years ago. Immortality doesn't require possessing bodies or jumping your consciousness into artifacts. It's not a parlor game to confuse people. Those are just silly Sith legends designed to spook the Jedi."

"Oh." Kylo doesn't know what to say as the realization that he has lost everything sinks in.

His foe senses it and crows, "Only now, at the end, do you understand. You cannot kill me. I told you before. I cannot be beaten. I cannot be betrayed. You should have listened to Master Snoke, Apprentice."

Aghast Kylo refuses to believe that this is how it ends. That the Force wants to promote the conflict and death that comes from the Light Side and the Dark Side being locked in eternal conflict. Plus, with Kylo dies the last remnant of the Jedi religion. All that's left is a bunch of old books Rey stole from Luke Skywalker. If she didn't burn them already, that is.

Could the conflict be the point? Is the meaning in the struggle? Kylo hopes not. That will be so disappointing.

His tormentor must read his mind. "I win. I always win." Kylo has learned much too late that Snoke was the apex predator of the Force. The ancient puppet master continues: "You Skywalkers have been a chore. An experiment gone wrong that I tried to right, but to no avail. I set out to make the perfect Dark Apprentice, but each and every one of your bloodline turned out to be conflicted to some degree. You were very promising at first, but even you disappointed me like the rest." He curls his lip and smirks. "It turns out that you were a new Vader after all."

Kylo decides to take that as a compliment. For here is the confirmation that he needs to feel vindicated. "That's because the Force is also conflicted," he asserts. "We Skywalkers are Dark and Light, like the Force that begat us." And therein lies the hope for Rey who apparently was also created in the Force by this monster.

Kylo turns to her to impart the wisdom he learned the hard way. Because 'pass on what you have learned' is an imperative of the Jedi. And since Kylo truly is the last Jedi, he wants to fulfill the mandate. Lest his life's struggle be in vain, like his quitter uncle's.

"There is Light in you," Kylo tells the cold girl he barely recognizes. "He hasn't driven it fully away. He can't. Remember that for when the time comes." Because someday, somehow, the Light will rise up within her. Then Rey of Jakku, like Ben Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Anakin Skywalker before her, will live out the Light/Dark passion play of the universe. And maybe, Kylo sighs inwardly, she will have more success than he did.

But Rey doesn't seem to be listening and her Master is far from threatened. "Nonsense," the immortal Sith dismisses the notion. "She is mine, Apprentice. I will not share her. That means you need to die in order to break the Force bond."

Kylo watches as he slips an arm around Rey's waist and leans in to kiss her cheek. It's an intimate gesture that is decidedly more lover-like than fatherly. It looks more like the guy is copping a feel than he is giving a side hug. But it gets worse. Because the enigmatic smile Rey gives her Master in response is creepy as shit. Kylo cringes at this aspect of their relationship that he definitely does not want to see. Now, he pities her even more.

"Let me kill him, Master," Rey wheedles. It's a new coy version of the Resistance scavenger that makes Kylo blink in confusion.

Her Master is reluctant. "You are bonded to him. That makes it risky."

"Let me kill him. Please," she whines again. Simpering with her lips in a pout. Ugh, Kylo can barely stand to watch this. Somebody please kill him now and get this over with.

"No, my child," the leftover Sith decides, "the privilege of killing him is mine. Any Apprentice who fails to kill his Master forfeits his life for the attempt. That is the nature of the Dark Side." He turns back to Kylo. "Any last words?"

Kylo glances over to Rey. "Remember what I said. You're better than this," he goads her. Then he sneers at his captor, "I'm going to haunt you in the Force."

"Please don't," the mystery Sith sighs. "That's so cliché. And so Jedi cliché at that. Farewell, Apprentice. You served me well. But now you have been replaced by a far more charming successor."

And that's the last thing Kylo knows. His mind blanks and reboots. His consciousness transfers back to the Force from which he came, while his corporal nature remains behind. And that's when Kylo finds himself peering down from above into the throne room setting he was just standing in. There's Rey standing over his body slumped on the floor.

Yep. He's dead. How did he die? Kylo's not sure. But at least it didn't hurt and he didn't lose a hand in the process.

Is Rey upset? He can't tell. Normally, Kylo would know, but the bond is severed. He might as well be a stranger to her now. It's very deflating.

"I promised you an Empire of your own. Now, you shall have it. Return with his body to the Resistance. Tell them that together you killed me, but Kylo Ren was slain in the process."

"Yes, Master," Rey answers, still looking down at his corpse.

"See, that was no great sacrifice. I knew you could do it. My girl, you are capable of so much more. In time, you will lose your inhibitions and grow into your potential. You do not yet realize your importance."

"Yes, Master."

"Now, let us bond ourselves." The creepy ageless Sith wraps his arms around Rey and pulls her head to his chest. Kylo watches as she flinches.

"Shhhhhh," her Master soothes. "It only hurts the first time. You remember from when you bonded with my Apprentice in the interrogation chair, yes? Good. Goooood. Much better. Now, you will be an extension of my will."

He releases her and Rey seems to recover. "Go and do my bidding," the Dark Lord tells her gently.

She does.

And watching her go, Kylo decides that Rey is the one to haunt in the Force. He will remind this poor lost girl that there is more than just Dark power. And not in the accusatory haranguing way his mother, his uncle, and his father approached him. But with understanding and compassion, since Kylo has been where she is.

THE END


	5. Chapter 5 story notes

Thanks for reading this silly little story.

The title 'Join Me' is the drama of this fic. Kylo makes his pitch to Rey again and again. Then, he gets the pitch himself at the end. The story ends with Kylo deciding to haunt Rey in the Force as he continues to press his case going forward in the afterlife. Why all these overtures? Because 'choose your side' is the classic SW melodrama that underpins the epic morality tale of Light versus Dark. And it's precisely what Kylo wants to end. But, he fails. And then, he ends up promoting the conflict himself going forward. Ah, the dramatic irony.

Sorry, but there's no new ideas here. I have written Rey as a Palpatine before (natural granddaughter in Ghosts of the Past) and I have written her as a child of the Force (Versions of You). She has been Dark (Versions of You) and Dark-ish (Fulcrum). Here, she's Dark through and through and that has deadly consequences for Kylo. Obviously, this won't happen in the official story. But I think the idea of Rey going Dark as Kylo becomes more Light is interesting.

Kylo's attitudes and political ideas in this fic exist in his characterization in Versions of You, Son of Darkness, and Tied on a String. Probably in other fics, too. I always envision Kylo as a mix of cynicism and good old Skywalker altruism, but with an angry chip on his shoulder. He's the hero in his own mind, even if his actions speak otherwise. And no, he's not redeemed. That doesn't mean he's all bad, mind you. But redeemed seems to require a deep sorrow and need for forgiveness that my Kylo is never going accomplish. There will be no atoning for sins with Kylo Ren. I also refuse to make him some sweet lovey dovey pet to morally superior Rey, or some sad figure broken with regrets like Luke. Blueenvelopes rarely gives her characters their moral comeuppance. My bad guys often get away with their evil deeds (Fulcrum!). This is probably the closest I get to punishing Kylo, and I want you to hate it. I want you to want Kylo to live because he is truly a man poised for greatness whose chance is cut short.

Dark Lord Vitiate, the Sith Emperor, made his way into my Reylo tales as the ultra-old, ultra-manipulative bad guy/good guy in Versions of You. In that fic, he wants to balance the Force (for reasons explained therein) and he is something of a Reylo shipper. Here, he appears as just the regular bad guy. He also looks a little different than his previous appearances—he's more like the actor Matt Smith who is rumored to have been cast as a young Palpatine. Vitiate is also my plugger of plot holes, since I write him as the master of disguises. He's everyone from Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas to Snoke to Darth Plagueis in my recent fics. This is the first time he's Sidious. In Versions of You, he is Sidious' master.

I have Vitiate on the mind because he's the main character of the fic I am finishing currently. Why is Vitiate the master of deceit and disguise? How has he lived this long? Why does he create the Force bond Kylo and Rey? How did he learn to resurrect people in the Force? It's all in Taking the Veil, the story of the reclusive Sith Emperor who isn't really a Sith and who doesn't fit well into the repressive, hierarchical Empire he has created.

Anyhow, the point is that this story is all classic blueenvelopes ideas rehashed in a different context. And this is why I need to stop writing Reylo. I just don't have anything new to say. And I refuse to write Reylo sex romps and non-Star Wars alternative universes. It has to mean something, or it's not worth my time. And that means it's not worth your time either.

I really hope Episode 9 feels satisfying. It doesn't need to answer all the questions—I hope it leaves some things open and maybe starts some new ideas. Look, I'm a passive Marvel viewer. I won't call myself a true Marvel fan (I just can't get into it), but Marvel is unavoidable as the mother of boys. (As I write this, my first grader is running around the house brandishing the Nerf Thor hammer he got for his birthday last week). Still, I personally found Endgame to be very satisfying. I'm hoping TROS can accomplish something similar. That it can feel like a conclusion and a new direction simultaneously.

Obviously, Episode 9 won't end like this fic ends, even if Kylo does die. However it ends, I really hope we get more than a thematic retelling of Return of the Jedi with a reprise of a cackling Darth Sidious. And to do that, I think there has to be a recognition that redemption to the Light Side is not the goal. Any victory for the Light is a setback for balance. And any victory for the Dark Side similarly promotes the same cycle of conflict. Kylo Ren—for all his bad acts—seems to be the only character in the saga yet who could actually embrace balance. If Darth Sidious really is our big baddie (and it's not a misdirect/red herring/disguise for someone else), I'm hoping that Kylo has known it for some time so that his "finish what you started" line to Vader's mask makes more sense in hindsight. I feel like that plot could provide a wealth of opportunity to underscore Kylo/Ben's agency. I really hate the notion that some fans have that he is some passive victim of his Dark Side abuser Master.

My wish list for Episode 9 has Kylo achieving balance in some respect. It also has Force ghost Anakin, a Reylo kiss, and the mother of all space battles (LOVE a space battle!). And as a bonus, I would like a callback to the KOTOR/Ye Olde Sith Empire, since that's my current Star Wars obsession. As I keep telling my kids, this is a fabulous time to be a SW fan. Honestly, I'm as excited about the Disney+ shows (more CLONE WARS!) as I am Episode 9. So, if TROS disappoints, I'll live. I was hooked on Star Wars long ago, and I'm far too old and far too invested to move on. Thanks for reading.


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